Tanning Bed Danger for Nieces and Nephews
It’s time to get savvy about tanning for yourself and your niece. You
may love that bronzy look, Auntie, but it is hazardous to your health.
Skin cancer is the most common occurring cancer in the US: more common
than the number of cases of breast, prostate, colon, and lung cancer
combined!
A new study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology finds an
even greater danger of tanning beds than previously thought. Indoor
tanning beds predominately use UVA1 ultraviolet rays, which are longer
than UVB rays and penetrate into deeper layers of the skin. UVA1 rays
cause more damage to the deep basal layer of the skin, where the shorter
UVB rays cannot reach. These cellular changes in this deeper layer of
the skin are associated with changes seen in skin cancer. You don’t have
to get sunburn to put yourself at risk for skin cancer. Tanning with
these deep penetrating UVA rays causes aging and wrinkling which is a
sign of skin damage and potential risk for skin cancer.
The indoor tanning industry is a $5 billion a year business with
about 30 million people going to salons every year in the US. 2.3
million of these are teens. The FDA is now considering banning the use
of tanning beds by children younger than 18 years of age. It is already
prohibited in some European countries. The positive claims made by
Indoor Tanning Association, their trade association, about ultraviolet
radiation and the importance of vitamin D is misleading and
self-serving.
There is no dispute that some sunlight is required for our body to
synthesize Vitamin D. There is no dispute that Vitamin D is very
beneficial and a key hormone required for strong bones, a healthy immune
system, and has been shown to protect against some cancers such as
colon cancer. There are safer ways to obtain it. Most experts feel that
we probably get enough sunlight to produce vitamin D in a normal day
going back and forth to work or running errands. However if your levels
are low you can eat fortified foods or take a supplement. Foods such as
milk, cereal, orange juice, tuna, salmon, eggs, beef liver or cod liver
oil all are high in vitamin D.
This new study just provides more ammunition that tanning is not
worth the risk, be it outside or especially indoors. But if your niece
must have that golden glow for the homecoming dance, be a sun Savvy
Auntie and take her to get a spray-on-tan at the salon.
Published: October 19, 2011